Bonus Tip: FREE E-book "Getting Past Gatekeepers and Handling Blockers " . If you can’t get to the powerful decision makers, you’re depending on your contacts to do your selling at the high levels. The problem is you won’t know what they say, if they say anything at all. Click this link

December 03, 2010

Meeting with powerful people makes anyone nervous and reluctant to pursue them. Unfortunately, if left uncorrected, you’ll be stuck with subordinates who tend to gather all your information and then do nothing with it because they are also nervous about going to their bosses. So here is how to correct this executive intimidation situation.

October 04, 2010

There are people you know who can coach you along to win sales, and/or cross-sells, and/or point out high quality leads.

Sales people are reluctant or uncomfortable to ask others to make introductions for them – no matter how tight their relationship.In many selling situations they may even feel it’s unnecessary to move beyond their primary contact.What happens is the sales person gets stuck – stuck with a gatekeeper, or stuck with only one of the many decision makers.The results are limited information as to how to win the sale, loss of control to this contact, and no chance to make an impact on the other executives involved with the selection process.

August 24, 2010

Networking produces leads, contacts, and C-Level relationships better than anything.So use your resources.You know people that know people who can get you to where you want to be.However you have to stop and think about this for a minute because you’re not used to using these contacts.Once you start to think about who you know, you’ll be amazed at how many resources you have.

Common Situations - Cold Calling or Trying to Get to Hard-to-See Executives

Most people suffer the rejection and futility of cold calling admins because they hate to ask people they know for help.What happens is they get nowhere slowly. Even worse, the constant rejection causes them to totally avoid prospecting for new opportunities and clients. As a result sales slump which makes salespeople feel worse.They become desperate and make more cold calls and the downward rejection cycle continues.

August 13, 2010

Determining the final decision maker and other high level influencers is one of the most challenging tasks for a sales person. Sales people usually assume their primary contact or the next level of command beyond will make the decision. Sometimes there’s a a committee and it’s believed they make the decision. But who assigned the committee and who gets the committee’s recommendation.

Many people influence B2B sales (especially those over $10,000). These people are up an out from the direct purchasing path. However, their inputs are heard by the ultimate decision maker. If the sales person hasn’t talked with these influencers and the leader, he will be at a severe disadvantage and lack any control.So here are some tips.

Prepare Yourself

1.Top people are the profit center leader and those that report directly to him. Look at an org chart, and ask people who’s really in control of what happens.

2. Spread like a virus. Keep asking you contact for introductions to others at the same level and above.

3.Ask yourself, “Will the person I feel is the final authority discuss this project with anyone above him before he gives his approval to buy?”

4.Who are the other people this leader meets with regularly - his sphere of influence. Have you met these people, yet?

5.Be careful of who signs.Lawyers and purchasing managers sign, but get their directions from others. Realize also that budgets are not authorizations for spending.

6. Don’t ever believe someone is only a rubber stamp. That stamp wants assurances before he stamps.

7.Don’t underestimate what affects the top– and not just financially.

8. Will your sale or this contract be discussed at a staff meeting? As a rule, anything over $10,000 will be.

9.Ask others who approved similar purchases of equal magnitude and impact.

Take This To The Street

Select an existing account. Who are your contacts?Who’s up and out? If you don’t know or haven’t met with these people mark them as big red flags. It’s your alert to dig deeper. If you don’t know who’s calling the shots, you’re in jeopardy.

July 26, 2010

Most people conjure up socializing when they here the term relationship selling.In business relationships are all about helping each other survive and prosper in his or her job.Socializing should be a byproduct of good relationship selling.

If I’m a C-Level executive decision maker, a relationship would mean providing me with solutions to problems such as, taking care of my employees, saving me money, helping me beat competition, making it easier for more sales, etc.If you can deliver, and I see it’s you that makes it happen, then I want to continue working with you and possibly socialize with you.

July 06, 2010

“I’ve got a great product, and I know this prospect can use it, but I can’t get this person interested.”Sound familiar.Well the problem to this dilemma is not competition, your price, etc.It's the word “I”.Look how many times “I” is used.

A great product/service can die on the vine if the sales person assumes s/he has the answers to the prospects problems. Here are some tips to activate prospects’ interests.

May 19, 2010

As the movie said, "If you build it, they will come." Well that's what the last of this series of C-Level Relationship Selling Tips is all about. Make relationship plans that insure expectations are realized.

Fulfilling expectations are what keeps relationships solid and useful. To meet your client’s expectations, make sure you know what they are. So as not to be disappointed, make sure your clients know your expectations. Here’s how to make sure.

May 05, 2010

Professional relationships are like bank accounts. The more deposits you put into them the more withdrawal you can take. The higher the title the bigger the value of the deposit. Here are some ideas of how to stay close and keep making deposits with top level executives, even when nothing is happening.

April 22, 2010

It is 4 times easier to get business from an existing account where you’ve maintained high level relationships, rather than getting business from a new account.It’s 2 times easier to get business from an account that you’ve lost, for whatever reason than a new one.Why, because you have relationships – good ones and weaker ones.

Relationships develop when each party receives positive professional benefits from the other.That is,

April 16, 2010

It’s so much easier to get more business from existing customers when you’re the preferred vendor, and this is very easy to do.Being preferred provides an unfair advantage over any competition.You’ll get jobs without bidding and at your price.Even governments or institutions have work that sneaks-in under the radar that will be yours.For those projects that have to be bid, you’ll know when they are coming down the pike.You’ll learn what price will win, and you’ll be able to help write the specs that center around your strengths.So being preferred is where you want to be with all your accounts, and it’s easily possible.

April 07, 2010

Price battles happen because the C-Level decision maker doesn’t see a reason to pay more. Showing you’re the best of the choices available is called differentiation.You separate yourself, your company and/or your solution from the others.

Many sales people struggle with differentiation.They feel their widget is basically like the competitors’.With services, they feel the customer can do it just as well themselves.But every company has uniqueness which should be used as differentiators.

Learn how easy it is to show differentiation where it counts and eliminate the low price argument.

March 24, 2010

To make interactions click immediately you’ll have to make CEO’s, C-level executives and people in general feel comfortable.The operative word here is you.You will have to do the matching by adjusting your style to his or hers.

Though years of expert observations and testing, I have reduced style down to four easily usable characteristics – pace, risk, results, and social.My system is simple.All you’re going to do is gauge how much of each the person opposite you has and speed-up or slow-down yours to match.

Now here’s what I’ve observed through my years of experience using this.If you conflict with one of these four characteristic, you’ll get by, but with difficulty.If you conflict with two or more, there will be friction and you’ll not advance your relationship.

When people are at ease with you, they will listen to you, believe you and give you what you want.

March 12, 2010

Listening is the key to establishing relationships and selling.If you learn what your prospects want, and/or forgot to mention, and/or don’t know about, and what they mean by the words they used to describe what they want, you’ll have a complete description of what it will take to win these people over.It works for both business and personal relationships.

February 24, 2010

Relationships and sales happen because they are set-up. Interviewing is the set-up step to lead you into a great presentation of yourself or your products. Try the presentation without the set-up and you'll see why so many sales people and others get rejected.

Learn from this article or video how to get C-level executives or anyone to open-up and tell you everything you want to know about them personally, the sale, their company and more.

February 12, 2010

Capturing the attention of a top level person is extremely difficult. Holding it is even tougher. Learn from this article how to gab executives' interest and get them talking about what you have to say.

Top level people do like to talk about themselves.They are usually happy to tell you what they want and why.These characters do not like people telling them what they need or should have, or why they should do something.They want to tell you what they want, but they won’t say that in so many words.That’s why you have to have some questions ready to get them talking.

Learn what to say and do by clicking on the following article or video links.

February 05, 2010

Intimidation is why most people avoid pursuing relationships they want to have.In the quest for sales this would mean C-levels and top decision makers.To win senior exec's over, one must have a confident resolve and a good strategy to sail into their waters.Intimidation is an anchor.

Learn how to turn around reluctance or shyness to pursue powerful and/or desirable individuals in this article or video. Change intimidation into productive and enviable relationships.